Bucks must release attendance records
December 24, 2009 | Filed in: Open
meetings | Office of
Open Records | RTK request
stories | Bucks Co.
By JENNA PORTNOY | Bucks
County Courier Times
The County must comply with a Right-to-Know request for employee attendance records, the state Office of Open Records has ruled.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled this week that Bucks County must make public attendance records of county employees who swipe their identification cards to enter the courthouse.
A state appeals officer on Monday granted this newspaper's appeal of the county's decision to deny public access to swipes made by the recently re-elected recorder of deeds and a county employee who ran for his seat.
Attendance became a campaign issue in mid-September when Democratic challenger Robin Rosenthal posted online a YouTube slideshow of photographs of Republican incumbent Ed Gudknecht's empty parking space at the so-called VIP lot near the courthouse in Doylestown.
She argued the images, which were not time stamped, proved Gudknecht rarely showed up to work, earning him the nickname "Tuesday Thursday Ed," among his staff.
Gudknecht insisted he came to work every day and questioned whether Rosenthal, who works for Democratic Commissioner Diane Marseglia, put in full work weeks herself.
On Sept. 24, this newspaper filed an open records request for a log of card swipes made by Gudknecht and Rosenthal over a three-and-a-half month period. As an elected official, Gudknecht does not fill out a time card.
After requesting an extension to review the law, Bucks County's open records officer denied the request on Oct. 30, the Sunday before the Nov. 3 election in which voters delivered Gudknecht a seventh term.
The state Right-to-Know law generally assumes documents are open to public view, although there are various exceptions. The county argued that, if disclosed, the attendance log would likely jeopardize public safety and endanger the physical security of a building.
"The records you requested are an integral part of the county's security system and any disclosure of the system's information would reveal the nature of the system, would expose the system's potential weaknesses, and would compromise county security," Bucks' Open Records Officer Regina Armitage said in the denial letter.
A few weeks later this newspaper appealed to the state Office of Open Records, which assigned Appeals Officer Lucinda Glinn to the case. In her five-page ruling, Glinn said the county did not satisfy either of the exceptions cited.
"The county did not illustrate how releasing that limited bit of information is reasonably likely to endanger the physical security of the building, or to compromise the integrity of the security system of which the card-swiping is a component," she said.
The county has 30 days to provide the records or appeal the decision to the Court of Common Pleas. As of Wednesday afternoon, the county solicitor's office was still reviewing the matter.
The recorder of deeds maintains a permanent record of documents, such as deeds and mortgages, and collects the realty transfer tax. The job pays $73,078 a year plus benefits.
The County must comply with a Right-to-Know request for employee attendance records, the state Office of Open Records has ruled.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled this week that Bucks County must make public attendance records of county employees who swipe their identification cards to enter the courthouse.
A state appeals officer on Monday granted this newspaper's appeal of the county's decision to deny public access to swipes made by the recently re-elected recorder of deeds and a county employee who ran for his seat.
Attendance became a campaign issue in mid-September when Democratic challenger Robin Rosenthal posted online a YouTube slideshow of photographs of Republican incumbent Ed Gudknecht's empty parking space at the so-called VIP lot near the courthouse in Doylestown.
She argued the images, which were not time stamped, proved Gudknecht rarely showed up to work, earning him the nickname "Tuesday Thursday Ed," among his staff.
Gudknecht insisted he came to work every day and questioned whether Rosenthal, who works for Democratic Commissioner Diane Marseglia, put in full work weeks herself.
On Sept. 24, this newspaper filed an open records request for a log of card swipes made by Gudknecht and Rosenthal over a three-and-a-half month period. As an elected official, Gudknecht does not fill out a time card.
After requesting an extension to review the law, Bucks County's open records officer denied the request on Oct. 30, the Sunday before the Nov. 3 election in which voters delivered Gudknecht a seventh term.
The state Right-to-Know law generally assumes documents are open to public view, although there are various exceptions. The county argued that, if disclosed, the attendance log would likely jeopardize public safety and endanger the physical security of a building.
"The records you requested are an integral part of the county's security system and any disclosure of the system's information would reveal the nature of the system, would expose the system's potential weaknesses, and would compromise county security," Bucks' Open Records Officer Regina Armitage said in the denial letter.
A few weeks later this newspaper appealed to the state Office of Open Records, which assigned Appeals Officer Lucinda Glinn to the case. In her five-page ruling, Glinn said the county did not satisfy either of the exceptions cited.
"The county did not illustrate how releasing that limited bit of information is reasonably likely to endanger the physical security of the building, or to compromise the integrity of the security system of which the card-swiping is a component," she said.
The county has 30 days to provide the records or appeal the decision to the Court of Common Pleas. As of Wednesday afternoon, the county solicitor's office was still reviewing the matter.
The recorder of deeds maintains a permanent record of documents, such as deeds and mortgages, and collects the realty transfer tax. The job pays $73,078 a year plus benefits.